Century Pacific Food Inc. said Monday its majority shareholder, Century Pacific Group Inc., unloaded 114 million shares it held in the listed food company, raising P2.8 billion from the exercise even as it increased Century Food’s public float to 34 percent from 31 percent.
The shares sale placed by UBS AG Singapore will be completed three trading days after the stocks are transferred to the new owners during a trade at the Philippine Stock Exchange
The sale was well-received by both international and local institutional investors, facilitating a lower discount of 5.2 percent from the last closing price of the stock.
Century Food said the transaction will dilute the shareholdings of existing investors since the shares are already owned by Centuty Pacific. It will also raise liquidity and public float of the listed food company.
“We are seeing opportunities at the holding company level and will be deploying proceeds across various investments. Post transaction, CPG will continue to hold majority stake in CNPF with 66 percent ownership. We do not expect any sale of CNPF shares by CPG for the foreseeable future. As a majority shareholder, we continue to support the long-term prospects of CNPF,” said Christopher Po, chairman of Century Pacific.
